Otranto, Italy in late October

There are plenty of folks who in the past 6 months have posted quite a lot of useful first person accounts about Puglia. It seems that, not surpisingly, none us wants to retype it. Searching the archives will retrieve it all for you. The previous poster, who tries to steer you away from all that archived input, may not have noticed those posts as they went by, or perhaps may have no interest in Puglia or perhaps is not familar with the Web Maestro's effort to explain archival searches. None of it involves Ron In Rome. I will send you links you need.

We went to Puglia last October and loved it. We had a car, arrived there after spending time at Matera. We stayed at an agriturismo, www. arangea.it, it was a great location for driving to nearby towns. The agriturismo is located west of Lecce and from there we made day trips to Gallipoli and Otranto. It is a new agriturismo and the rates were very reasonable. Very hospitable family. We would have liked to visit more towns but didn't have the time. We drove to the tip of the "heel" the day we went to Otranto. Both cities are wonderful to see, I recommend them both. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of Lecce because we scheduled it for our last day. And it rained all day. The seafood and fishing village atmosphere of Gallipoli was a high point, as were the historical charm and beautiful Adriatic vistas of Otranto.

We went to Puglia last October and loved it. We had a car, arrived there after spending time at Matera. We stayed at an agriturismo, www. arangea.it, it was a great location for driving to nearby towns. The agriturismo is located west of Lecce and from there we made day trips to Gallipoli and Otranto. It is a new agriturismo and the rates were very reasonable. Very hospitable family. We would have liked to visit more towns but didn't have the time. We drove to the tip of the "heel" the day we went to Otranto. Both cities are wonderful to see, I recommend them both. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of Lecce because we scheduled it for our last day. And it rained all day. The seafood and fishing village atmosphere of Gallipoli was a high point, as were the historical charm and beautiful Adriatic vistas of Otranto.

Be sure to stop by the castle and say hello to the count and his family (gratuitous literary reference).

Here are a few of the threads re Puglia. I spent a few hours in Otranto and I met several folks from there while staying in base camp Lecce. Everyone I met said good things about Otranto and it's pretty habor and bright white buildings. If you can pull yourself away you will need a car for Puglia. And take note that some of the sites are several hours from Lecce/Otranto so day trips could be long in some cases. Anyway have a great trip. http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/73026/advice-regarding-gargano-peninsula.html http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/72207/travelling-to-puglia.html http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/72262/lecce-restaurantfoodolive-oil-tasting-suggestions.html http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=71432